Due to undisclosed reasons, Mairbek Taisumov is out of his fight with Nik Lentz at UFC 203. Now, promotional newcomer Michael McBride will step-up on short notice to fight Lentz. The news was confirmed on Thursday by MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani.

Making his UFC debut, lightweight McBride will be looking to extend his wining streak to five in a row. McBride is 8-1 as a professional fighter, with all wins coming by submission. He last fought in November at MMC 61, defeating Derek Loffer via second-round triangle choke.

Lentz, who recently returned to the lightweight division back in December, is currently 5-2 in his last seven outings. Lentz last competed at UFC on Fox 17, defeating Danny Castillo via split decision.

UFC 203 takes place on Sept. 10 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland’s Stipe Miocic is scheduled to make his first heavyweight title defense in the main event of the card against Alistair Overeem.

Due to undisclosed reasons, Mairbek Taisumov is out of his fight with Nik Lentz at UFC 203. Now, promotional newcomer Michael McBride will step-up on short notice to fight Lentz. The news was confirmed on Thursday by MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani.

Making his UFC debut, lightweight McBride will be looking to extend his wining streak to five in a row. McBride is 8-1 as a professional fighter, with all wins coming by submission. He last fought in November at MMC 61, defeating Derek Loffer via second-round triangle choke.

Lentz, who recently returned to the lightweight division back in December, is currently 5-2 in his last seven outings. Lentz last competed at UFC on Fox 17, defeating Danny Castillo via split decision.

UFC 203 takes place on Sept. 10 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland’s Stipe Miocic is scheduled to make his first heavyweight title defense in the main event of the card against Alistair Overeem.

Now that he is officially out of retirement, B.J. Penn still wants to fight Nik Lentz. But he also isn’t afraid to move on to different pastures if Lentz decides to drag his feet.

“I want to use him as a punching bag to get some ring rust out,” Penn said Tuesday on The MMA Hour. “I’ve been gone for two years. I wanted to use him as a punching bag, but I guess he’s smarter than I thought, because he’s smart enough not to get in the ring. So I don’t think he’s going to get in the ring. I’ll tell him right now: Nik, I’ll fight you at 155 pounds, since you keep crying about the weight. Let’s do it. But Nik better believe, if I fight someone else, don’t ever think I’m going to fight him again.”

Considering all of the bad blood that has developed between the two fighters, Penn said he would extend Lentz the first offer at being his dance partner for that date, but would be forced to look elsewhere if the offer went unanswered.

“He’s going to lose out on the biggest opportunity he’s ever had, because I’ll forget who he is as soon as I get my next opponent,” Penn said. “I’ll forget who he is. I’ll forget he’s even alive, and we know he’s never going to run into me later. So, Nik, you want to sit there and tell everybody how hard your life is and how bad it is, and how spoiled I am, and this and that? Here you go. You got a chance to hurt a spoiled kid, since you’re jealous of every spoiled kid, and you’ve got the biggest opportunity of your life, Nik. But is he going to do it? No, he’s scared.”

The bitter rivalry between Penn and Lentz stems from a dispute between Penn and weight cutting guru Mike Dolce in 2014, prior to Penn’s third loss to Frankie Edgar. Penn said he worked with Dolce for three weeks and was subsequently unhappy with the results. According to Dolce, Penn reneged on payment for the work. Penn ultimately called out both Dolce and Lentz, a fellow Dolce client who briefly trained with Penn in Hawaii, challenging the latter to a fight late last year.

“I don’t know much too about the guy,” Penn said of Lentz. “He’s a real quiet guy. I kind of thought he was a punk, so I left him a bloodied mess in the gym. He ran out of the gym screaming, ‘Dolce, please stop this. Stop this.’ He jumped on the next airplane home, because he doesn’t want that to happen again. He’s a bloody mess. And you know what really broke him? It wasn’t that I bloodied him up and I smashed his whole face. It was that I passed his guard and mounted him, and he prides himself so much on his ground game, but he’s a white belt. It felt like I was grappling with a white belt.”

Lentz and Penn have exchanged words on several occasions since the initial dispute, culminating in a formal challenge issued by Penn earlier this month. That challenge prompted a lengthy and scathing reply from Lentz, who listed the following trio of terms that Penn would have to accept for the bout to be made: first, that the fight take place at lightweight; second, that Penn pays Dolce the remaining sums he owes; and third, that the fight is held at a later date than March 5.

Penn said that while he has yet to read Lentz’s latest response, he would be more than happy to oblige the lightweight aspect of those terms. However he scoffed in regards to Lentz’s other demands, reiterating that if Lentz didn’t want to fight anytime and anywhere, he never should have taken things this far in the first place.

“The lion doesn’t care what the sheep thinks,” Penn said. “The lion just wants to eat him. I don’t care. I don’t speak baaaah, baaaah, whatever the sheep speaks. I just want to eat the sheep. It’s crazy. Is he not crazy for not taking this opportunity? Or do you think he’s smart for not going in there and getting his ass kicked? What is it? It’s just crazy, right? You’re going to sit there and say, ‘bring Penn back, I’ll fight him anytime.’ And then you finally get the fight, and then you don’t want it.

“So don’t sit around and tell everybody how hard your life is when you pass up every opportunity that comes by. It’s funny. Like I said, I’m not mad at Nik Lentz. I just want to use him to beat him up. Good for Nick. I’m glad he knows how to let people write poems for him or whatever he does. Good for him. Good for him and his whole deal. But he ain’t going to get this opportunity again,” Penn promised.

“After today, it’s Nik who? Nik who? Hey, what about who? Nik who? Who are you talking about? I mean, it is still Nik who. No one knows who Nik is, you know what I mean? It’s Nik who. That’s his name. Everybody from Hawaii, that’s what they’re telling me. ‘Nik who? Nik who?’ Nobody knows that guy. It’s just amazing, man.”

Now that he is officially out of retirement, B.J. Penn still wants to fight Nik Lentz. But he also isn’t afraid to move on to different pastures if Lentz decides to drag his feet.

“I want to use him as a punching bag to get some ring rust out,” Penn said Tuesday on The MMA Hour. “I’ve been gone for two years. I wanted to use him as a punching bag, but I guess he’s smarter than I thought, because he’s smart enough not to get in the ring. So I don’t think he’s going to get in the ring. I’ll tell him right now: Nik, I’ll fight you at 155 pounds, since you keep crying about the weight. Let’s do it. But Nik better believe, if I fight someone else, don’t ever think I’m going to fight him again.”

Considering all of the bad blood that has developed between the two fighters, Penn said he would extend Lentz the first offer at being his dance partner for that date, but would be forced to look elsewhere if the offer went unanswered.

“He’s going to lose out on the biggest opportunity he’s ever had, because I’ll forget who he is as soon as I get my next opponent,” Penn said. “I’ll forget who he is. I’ll forget he’s even alive, and we know he’s never going to run into me later. So, Nik, you want to sit there and tell everybody how hard your life is and how bad it is, and how spoiled I am, and this and that? Here you go. You got a chance to hurt a spoiled kid, since you’re jealous of every spoiled kid, and you’ve got the biggest opportunity of your life, Nik. But is he going to do it? No, he’s scared.”

The bitter rivalry between Penn and Lentz stems from a dispute between Penn and weight cutting guru Mike Dolce in 2014, prior to Penn’s third loss to Frankie Edgar. Penn said he paid Dolce a sum of $ 22,000 for three weeks worth of work and was subsequently unhappy with the results, prompting him to call out both Dolce and Lentz, a fellow Dolce client who briefly trained with Penn in Hawaii, for a fight late last year.

“I don’t know much too about the guy,” Penn said of Lentz. “He’s a real quiet guy. I kind of thought he was a punk, so I left him a bloodied mess in the gym. He ran out of the gym screaming, ‘Dolce, please stop this. Stop this.’ He jumped on the next airplane home, because he doesn’t want that to happen again. He’s a bloody mess. And you know what really broke him? It wasn’t that I bloodied him up and I smashed his whole face. It was that I passed his guard and mounted him, and he prides himself so much on his ground game, but he’s a white belt. It felt like I was grappling with a white belt.”

Lentz and Penn have exchanged words on several occasions since the initial dispute, culminating in a formal challenge issued by Penn earlier this month. That challenge prompted a lengthy and scathing reply from Lentz, who listed the following trio of terms that Penn would have to accept for the bout to be made: first, that the fight take place at lightweight; second, that Penn pays Dolce the remaining sums he owes; and third, that the fight is held at a later date than March 5.

Penn said that while he has yet to read Lentz’s latest response, he would be more than happy to oblige the lightweight aspect of those terms. However he scoffed in regards to Lentz’s other demands, reiterating that if Lentz didn’t want to fight anytime and anywhere, he never should have taken things this far in the first place.

“The lion doesn’t care what the sheep thinks,” Penn said. “The lion just wants to eat him. I don’t care. I don’t speak baaaah, baaaah, whatever the sheep speaks. I just want to eat the sheep. It’s crazy. Is he not crazy for not taking this opportunity? Or do you think he’s smart for not going in there and getting his ass kicked? What is it? It’s just crazy, right? You’re going to sit there and say, ‘bring Penn back, I’ll fight him anytime.’ And then you finally get the fight, and then you don’t want it.

“So don’t sit around and tell everybody how hard your life is when you pass up every opportunity that comes by. It’s funny. Like I said, I’m not mad at Nik Lentz. I just want to use him to beat him up. Good for Nick. I’m glad he knows how to let people write poems for him or whatever he does. Good for him. Good for him and his whole deal. But he ain’t going to get this opportunity again,” Penn promised.

“After today, it’s Nik who? Nik who? Hey, what about who? Nik who? Who are you talking about? I mean, it is still Nik who. No one knows who Nik is, you know what I mean? It’s Nik who. That’s his name. Everybody from Hawaii, that’s what they’re telling me. ‘Nik who? Nik who?’ Nobody knows that guy. It’s just amazing, man.”

After exchanging unpleasantries over the last couple of months, retired UFC hall of famer B.J. Pennposted a message on his Instagram on Wednesday formally challenging Nik Lentz to a fight at UFC 197. The two have had bad blood going back to a lingering feud between Penn and his one-time nutritionist, Mike Dolce, whom Lentz had also used to help make weight at 145 pounds. Penn called out Lentz while doing a television appearance in the fall, but people weren’t sure how serious he was at the time. And neither did Penn know that Lentz was no longer working with Dolce.

Lentz was insulted by the misguided call out, and penned a pair of poems directed at none other than the “Prodigy” himself.

As Penn expressed in his message — which came after another post of him standing with renowned coach Greg Jackson — he took umbrage to these poems, calling them “silly.”

On Wednesday evening, “The Carny” responded to Penn’s call out with the following message, which he sent to MMA Fighting.

***

“BJ,I received your poorly-worded, utterly predictable, message. In spite of its clumsy structure, awful spelling, incorrect usage (you state at one point that I wrote a poem about you making fun of yourself), and general air of arrogance, entitled stupidity, I’m considering your request.

There are, of course, some conditions.

- I’m never competing at 145 ever again. Neither should you. I came to this conclusion after doing careful research, and deciding what was right for my long-term health as well as my short-term performance. If you fight at 145, it won’t be long before you’re eating banana mush in a nuthouse. I am accountable to my family, and my future with them. Because you are an impulsive tyrant surrounded by yes-men, you have no ability to make rational, intelligent decisions. So I am making this one for you. If we fight, it would be at 155.

- I’m not fighting in March. Neither are you. You may imagine you are, and the imbeciles you surround yourself with may nod in agreement like the trained dogs they are, but you aren’t fighting in March. You’ve lied to your fans, and let them down over and over, and nobody is clamoring to put the BJ PENN EXCUSE FACTORY back in business. Were I to agree to fight you in March and whup your ass, it would only give you and your lackeys the “BJ didn’t have enough time” bullshit excuse. Additionally, if we do fight, it will be on MY timetable, NOT yours. You are retired, and have no schedule. I am an active fighter, on the roster, with a schedule and training platform that is not beholden to your desires, grudges, or need for narcissistic supply.

- You still owe Mike Dolce $ 22,000. Knowing him, he is too gracious and dignified a man to revisit the traitorous back-stabbing skullduggery you engaged in with him after the third time Frankie Edgar kicked your ass inside-out. I, however, don’t have the luxury of grace, and dignity is best left out of any exchange that includes you. You will donate $ 22,000 of your purse to the HAWAII DOG FOUNDATION, a no-kill, all-volunteer rescue organization working hard to rescue and rehabilitate dogs in Hawaii, in Mike Dolce’s name.

Give these conditions some thought. They are non-negotiable. They are rules you WILL abide by, or you can go whistle. I have a contract, and plenty of guys to fight. As a Narcissist, you have nothing but an image. And you NEED attention. You have all the money you could ever spend; but it doesn’t satisfy you. I have what you NEED. I’M in charge. You can do what narcissists usually do when confronted by a higher power; SLINK AWAY. Or you can confront your needs, realize I can fulfill them, and come to terms with me, looming over you, holding the….

WHIP HAND.

I’m ALREADY in charge, you poor, deluded, fool. I did more to motivate you with TWO POEMS than all your yes-men, and titles, and highlights could.

Get as angry as you want. Go out behind your huge inherited estate and kick rocks. Go cry to your Mommy. Go shit in your hat and bark at the moon.

You want to fight?Then it’s on MY terms. FACE IT.

Now run along, little man. Go find a way to swallow your overarching pride and do it MY way, or scuttle about like a deformed crab at low tide, like a masochist at last call, desperately looking for somebody else to thrash you.

You can go to Greg Jackson’s, you can go to Jermaine Jackson’s, you can listen to Mahalia Jackson, you can resurrect Jackson fuckin’ POLLOCK to paint you a better picture of yourself than the one we all see; but…

You’re an unclaimed, busted-down suitcase on a dusty shelf in an abandoned bus-terminal. Accept my conditions, or rot in obscurity.

After exchanging unpleasantries over the last couple of months, retired UFC hall of famer B.J. Pennposted a message on his Instagram on Wednesday formally challenging Nik Lentz to a fight at UFC 197. The two have had bad blood going back to a lingering feud between Penn and his one-time nutritionist, Mike Dolce, whom Lentz had also used to help make weight at 145 pounds. Penn called out Lentz while doing a television appearance in the fall, but people weren’t sure how serious he was at the time. And neither did Penn know that Lentz was no longer working with Dolce.

Lentz was insulted by the misguided call out, and penned a pair of poems directed at none other than the “Prodigy” himself.

As Penn expressed in his message — which came after another post of him standing with renowned coach Greg Jackson — he took umbrage to these poems, calling them “silly.”

On Wednesday evening, “The Carny” responded to Penn’s call out with the following message, which he sent to MMA Fighting.

***

“BJ,I received your poorly-worded, utterly predictable, message. In spite of its clumsy structure, awful spelling, incorrect usage (you state at one point that I wrote a poem about you making fun of yourself), and general air of arrogance, entitled stupidity, I’m considering your request.

There are, of course, some conditions.

- I’m never competing at 145 ever again. Neither should you. I came to this conclusion after doing careful research, and deciding what was right for my long-term health as well as my short-term performance. If you fight at 145, it won’t be long before you’re eating banana mush in a nuthouse. I am accountable to my family, and my future with them. Because you are an impulsive tyrant surrounded by yes-men, you have no ability to make rational, intelligent decisions. So I am making this one for you. If we fight, it would be at 155.

- I’m not fighting in March. Neither are you. You may imagine you are, and the imbeciles you surround yourself with may nod in agreement like the trained dogs they are, but you aren’t fighting in March. You’ve lied to your fans, and let them down over and over, and nobody is clamoring to put the BJ PENN EXCUSE FACTORY back in business. Were I to agree to fight you in March and whup your ass, it would only give you and your lackeys the “BJ didn’t have enough time” bullshit excuse. Additionally, if we do fight, it will be on MY timetable, NOT yours. You are retired, and have no schedule. I am an active fighter, on the roster, with a schedule and training platform that is not beholden to your desires, grudges, or need for narcissistic supply.

- You still owe Mike Dolce $ 22,000. Knowing him, he is too gracious and dignified a man to revisit the traitorous back-stabbing skullduggery you engaged in with him after the third time Frankie Edgar kicked your ass inside-out. I, however, don’t have the luxury of grace, and dignity is best left out of any exchange that includes you. You will donate $ 22,000 of your purse to the HAWAII DOG FOUNDATION, a no-kill, all-volunteer rescue organization working hard to rescue and rehabilitate dogs in Hawaii, in Mike Dolce’s name.

Give these conditions some thought. They are non-negotiable. They are rules you WILL abide by, or you can go whistle. I have a contract, and plenty of guys to fight. As a Narcissist, you have nothing but an image. And you NEED attention. You have all the money you could ever spend; but it doesn’t satisfy you. I have what you NEED. I’M in charge. You can do what narcissists usually do when confronted by a higher power; SLINK AWAY. Or you can confront your needs, realize I can fulfill them, and come to terms with me, looming over you, holding the….

WHIP HAND.

I’m ALREADY in charge, you poor, deluded, fool. I did more to motivate you with TWO POEMS than all your yes-men, and titles, and highlights could.

Get as angry as you want. Go out behind your huge inherited estate and kick rocks. Go cry to your Mommy. Go shit in your hat and bark at the moon.

You want to fight?Then it’s on MY terms. FACE IT.

Now run along, little man. Go find a way to swallow your overarching pride and do it MY way, or scuttle about like a deformed crab at low tide, like a masochist at last call, desperately looking for somebody else to thrash you.

You can go to Greg Jackson’s, you can go to Jermaine Jackson’s, you can listen to Mahalia Jackson, you can resurrect Jackson fuckin’ POLLOCK to paint you a better picture of yourself than the one we all see; but…

You’re an unclaimed, busted-down suitcase on a dusty shelf in an abandoned bus-terminal. Accept my conditions, or rot in obscurity.

After exchanging unpleasantries over the last couple of months, retired UFC hall of famer B.J. Pennposted a message on his Instagram on Wednesday formally challenging Nik Lentz to a fight at UFC 197. The two have had bad blood going back to a lingering feud between Penn and his one-time nutritionist, Mike Dolce, whom Lentz had also used to help make weight at 145 pounds. Penn called out Lentz while doing a television appearance in the fall, but people weren’t sure how serious he was at the time. And neither did Penn know that Lentz was no longer working with Dolce.

Lentz was insulted by the misguided call out, and penned a pair of poems directed at none other than the “Prodigy” himself.

As Penn expressed in his message — which came after another post of him standing with renowned coach Greg Jackson — he took umbrage to these poems, calling them “silly.”

On Wednesday evening, “The Carny” responded to Penn’s call out with the following message, which he sent to MMA Fighting.

***

“BJ,I received your poorly-worded, utterly predictable, message. In spite of its clumsy structure, awful spelling, incorrect usage (you state at one point that I wrote a poem about you making fun of yourself), and general air of arrogance, entitled stupidity, I’m considering your request.

There are, of course, some conditions.

- I’m never competing at 145 ever again. Neither should you. I came to this conclusion after doing careful research, and deciding what was right for my long-term health as well as my short-term performance. If you fight at 145, it won’t be long before you’re eating banana mush in a nuthouse. I am accountable to my family, and my future with them. Because you are an impulsive tyrant surrounded by yes-men, you have no ability to make rational, intelligent decisions. So I am making this one for you. If we fight, it would be at 155.

- I’m not fighting in March. Neither are you. You may imagine you are, and the imbeciles you surround yourself with may nod in agreement like the trained dogs they are, but you aren’t fighting in March. You’ve lied to your fans, and let them down over and over, and nobody is clamoring to put the BJ PENN EXCUSE FACTORY back in business. Were I to agree to fight you in March and whup your ass, it would only give you and your lackeys the “BJ didn’t have enough time” bullshit excuse. Additionally, if we do fight, it will be on MY timetable, NOT yours. You are retired, and have no schedule. I am an active fighter, on the roster, with a schedule and training platform that is not beholden to your desires, grudges, or need for narcissistic supply.

- You still owe Mike Dolce $ 22,000. Knowing him, he is too gracious and dignified a man to revisit the traitorous back-stabbing skullduggery you engaged in with him after the third time Frankie Edgar kicked your ass inside-out. I, however, don’t have the luxury of grace, and dignity is best left out of any exchange that includes you. You will donate $ 22,000 of your purse to the HAWAII DOG FOUNDATION, a no-kill, all-volunteer rescue organization working hard to rescue and rehabilitate dogs in Hawaii, in Mike Dolce’s name.

Give these conditions some thought. They are non-negotiable. They are rules you WILL abide by, or you can go whistle. I have a contract, and plenty of guys to fight. As a Narcissist, you have nothing but an image. And you NEED attention. You have all the money you could ever spend; but it doesn’t satisfy you. I have what you NEED. I’M in charge. You can do what narcissists usually do when confronted by a higher power; SLINK AWAY. Or you can confront your needs, realize I can fulfill them, and come to terms with me, looming over you, holding the….

WHIP HAND.

I’m ALREADY in charge, you poor, deluded, fool. I did more to motivate you with TWO POEMS than all your yes-men, and titles, and highlights could.

Get as angry as you want. Go out behind your huge inherited estate and kick rocks. Go cry to your Mommy. Go shit in your hat and bark at the moon.

You want to fight?Then it’s on MY terms. FACE IT.

Now run along, little man. Go find a way to swallow your overarching pride and do it MY way, or scuttle about like a deformed crab at low tide, like a masochist at last call, desperately looking for somebody else to thrash you.

You can go to Greg Jackson’s, you can go to Jermaine Jackson’s, you can listen to Mahalia Jackson, you can resurrect Jackson fuckin’ POLLOCK to paint you a better picture of yourself than the one we all see; but…

You’re an unclaimed, busted-down suitcase on a dusty shelf in an abandoned bus-terminal. Accept my conditions, or rot in obscurity.

After exchanging unpleasantries over the last couple of months, retired UFC hall of famer B.J. Pennposted a message on his Instagram on Wednesday formally challenging Nik Lentz to a fight at UFC 197. The two have had bad blood going back to a lingering feud between Penn and his one-time nutritionist, Mike Dolce, whom Lentz had also used to help make weight at 145 pounds. Penn called out Lentz while doing a television appearance in the fall, but people weren’t sure how serious he was at the time. And neither did Penn know that Lentz was no longer working with Dolce.

Lentz was insulted by the misguided call out, and penned a pair of poems directed at none other than the “Prodigy” himself.

As Penn expressed in his message — which came after another post of him standing with renowned coach Greg Jackson — he took umbrage to these poems, calling them “silly.”

On Wednesday evening, “The Carny” responded to Penn’s call out with the following message, which he sent to MMA Fighting.

***

“BJ,I received your poorly-worded, utterly predictable, message. In spite of its clumsy structure, awful spelling, incorrect usage (you state at one point that I wrote a poem about you making fun of yourself), and general air of arrogance, entitled stupidity, I’m considering your request.

There are, of course, some conditions.

- I’m never competing at 145 ever again. Neither should you. I came to this conclusion after doing careful research, and deciding what was right for my long-term health as well as my short-term performance. If you fight at 145, it won’t be long before you’re eating banana mush in a nuthouse. I am accountable to my family, and my future with them. Because you are an impulsive tyrant surrounded by yes-men, you have no ability to make rational, intelligent decisions. So I am making this one for you. If we fight, it would be at 155.

- I’m not fighting in March. Neither are you. You may imagine you are, and the imbeciles you surround yourself with may nod in agreement like the trained dogs they are, but you aren’t fighting in March. You’ve lied to your fans, and let them down over and over, and nobody is clamoring to put the BJ PENN EXCUSE FACTORY back in business. Were I to agree to fight you in March and whup your ass, it would only give you and your lackeys the “BJ didn’t have enough time” bullshit excuse. Additionally, if we do fight, it will be on MY timetable, NOT yours. You are retired, and have no schedule. I am an active fighter, on the roster, with a schedule and training platform that is not beholden to your desires, grudges, or need for narcissistic supply.

- You still owe Mike Dolce $ 22,000. Knowing him, he is too gracious and dignified a man to revisit the traitorous back-stabbing skullduggery you engaged in with him after the third time Frankie Edgar kicked your ass inside-out. I, however, don’t have the luxury of grace, and dignity is best left out of any exchange that includes you. You will donate $ 22,000 of your purse to the HAWAII DOG FOUNDATION, a no-kill, all-volunteer rescue organization working hard to rescue and rehabilitate dogs in Hawaii, in Mike Dolce’s name.

Give these conditions some thought. They are non-negotiable. They are rules you WILL abide by, or you can go whistle. I have a contract, and plenty of guys to fight. As a Narcissist, you have nothing but an image. And you NEED attention. You have all the money you could ever spend; but it doesn’t satisfy you. I have what you NEED. I’M in charge. You can do what narcissists usually do when confronted by a higher power; SLINK AWAY. Or you can confront your needs, realize I can fulfill them, and come to terms with me, looming over you, holding the….

WHIP HAND.

I’m ALREADY in charge, you poor, deluded, fool. I did more to motivate you with TWO POEMS than all your yes-men, and titles, and highlights could.

Get as angry as you want. Go out behind your huge inherited estate and kick rocks. Go cry to your Mommy. Go shit in your hat and bark at the moon.

You want to fight?Then it’s on MY terms. FACE IT.

Now run along, little man. Go find a way to swallow your overarching pride and do it MY way, or scuttle about like a deformed crab at low tide, like a masochist at last call, desperately looking for somebody else to thrash you.

You can go to Greg Jackson’s, you can go to Jermaine Jackson’s, you can listen to Mahalia Jackson, you can resurrect Jackson fuckin’ POLLOCK to paint you a better picture of yourself than the one we all see; but…

You’re an unclaimed, busted-down suitcase on a dusty shelf in an abandoned bus-terminal. Accept my conditions, or rot in obscurity.

After exchanging unpleasantries over the last couple of months, retired UFC hall of famer B.J. Pennposted a message on his Instagram on Wednesday formally challenging Nik Lentz to a fight at UFC 197. The two have had bad blood going back to a lingering feud between Penn and his one-time nutritionist, Mike Dolce, whom Lentz had also used to help make weight at 145 pounds. Penn called out Lentz while doing a television appearance in the fall, but people weren’t sure how serious he was at the time. And neither did Penn know that Lentz was no longer working with Dolce.

Lentz was insulted by the misguided call out, and penned a pair of poems directed at none other than the “Prodigy” himself.

As Penn expressed in his message — which came after another post of him standing with renowned coach Greg Jackson — he took umbrage to these poems, calling them “silly.”

On Wednesday evening, “The Carny” responded to Penn’s call out with the following message, which he sent to MMA Fighting.

***

“BJ,I received your poorly-worded, utterly predictable, message. In spite of its clumsy structure, awful spelling, incorrect usage (you state at one point that I wrote a poem about you making fun of yourself), and general air of arrogance, entitled stupidity, I’m considering your request.

There are, of course, some conditions.

- I’m never competing at 145 ever again. Neither should you. I came to this conclusion after doing careful research, and deciding what was right for my long-term health as well as my short-term performance. If you fight at 145, it won’t be long before you’re eating banana mush in a nuthouse. I am accountable to my family, and my future with them. Because you are an impulsive tyrant surrounded by yes-men, you have no ability to make rational, intelligent decisions. So I am making this one for you. If we fight, it would be at 155.

- I’m not fighting in March. Neither are you. You may imagine you are, and the imbeciles you surround yourself with may nod in agreement like the trained dogs they are, but you aren’t fighting in March. You’ve lied to your fans, and let them down over and over, and nobody is clamoring to put the BJ PENN EXCUSE FACTORY back in business. Were I to agree to fight you in March and whup your ass, it would only give you and your lackeys the “BJ didn’t have enough time” bullshit excuse. Additionally, if we do fight, it will be on MY timetable, NOT yours. You are retired, and have no schedule. I am an active fighter, on the roster, with a schedule and training platform that is not beholden to your desires, grudges, or need for narcissistic supply.

- You still owe Mike Dolce $ 22,000. Knowing him, he is too gracious and dignified a man to revisit the traitorous back-stabbing skullduggery you engaged in with him after the third time Frankie Edgar kicked your ass inside-out. I, however, don’t have the luxury of grace, and dignity is best left out of any exchange that includes you. You will donate $ 22,000 of your purse to the HAWAII DOG FOUNDATION, a no-kill, all-volunteer rescue organization working hard to rescue and rehabilitate dogs in Hawaii, in Mike Dolce’s name.

Give these conditions some thought. They are non-negotiable. They are rules you WILL abide by, or you can go whistle. I have a contract, and plenty of guys to fight. As a Narcissist, you have nothing but an image. And you NEED attention. You have all the money you could ever spend; but it doesn’t satisfy you. I have what you NEED. I’M in charge. You can do what narcissists usually do when confronted by a higher power; SLINK AWAY. Or you can confront your needs, realize I can fulfill them, and come to terms with me, looming over you, holding the….

WHIP HAND.

I’m ALREADY in charge, you poor, deluded, fool. I did more to motivate you with TWO POEMS than all your yes-men, and titles, and highlights could.

Get as angry as you want. Go out behind your huge inherited estate and kick rocks. Go cry to your Mommy. Go shit in your hat and bark at the moon.

You want to fight?Then it’s on MY terms. FACE IT.

Now run along, little man. Go find a way to swallow your overarching pride and do it MY way, or scuttle about like a deformed crab at low tide, like a masochist at last call, desperately looking for somebody else to thrash you.

You can go to Greg Jackson’s, you can go to Jermaine Jackson’s, you can listen to Mahalia Jackson, you can resurrect Jackson fuckin’ POLLOCK to paint you a better picture of yourself than the one we all see; but…

You’re an unclaimed, busted-down suitcase on a dusty shelf in an abandoned bus-terminal. Accept my conditions, or rot in obscurity.